Method and apparatus for crimping contact terminals



May 31, 1966 D. R. KERNS ETAL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CRIMPING CONTACT TERMINALS 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 9 1965 D. R. KERNS ETAL 3,253,451

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CRIMPING CONTACT TERMINALS May 31, 1966 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 9, 1963 y 1966 D. R. KERNS ETAL 3,253,451

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CRIMPING CONTACT TERMINALS Filed Aug. 9, 1963 '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 May 31, 1966 D. R. KERNS ETAL 3,253,451

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CRIMPING CONTACT TERMINALS Filed Aug. 9, 1963 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 iii y 1, 1966 D. R. KERN; ETAL 3,253,451

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CRIMPING CONTACT TERMINALS Filed Aug. 9, 1963 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 May 31, 1966 o. R. KERNS ETAL 3,253,451

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CRIMPING CONTACT TERMINALS Filed Aug. 9, 1963 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 y 1966 D. R. KERNS ETAL 3,253,451

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CRIMPING CONTACT TERMINALS Filed Aug. 9, 1963 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 I l I uw p \v'qo United States Patent 3,253,451 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CRIMPING CONTACT TERMINALS David R. Kerns and Milton D. Ross, Harrisburg, Pa., assiguors to AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa. Filed Aug. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 301,109 12 Claims. (Cl. 72331) This invention relates to a method and apparatus for crimping electrical terminals in ladder strip form onto the ends of wires.

Crimpable electrical terminals are frequently manufatcured in the form of ladder strip. Terminals of this type are stamped and formed from flat strip stock in sideby-side relationship to each other with each terminal being integral at one end, or at both ends, with a carrier strip. Whether a carrier strip is provided along only one side of the strip of terminals or along both sides (in which case each terminal is integral with-a carrier strip at both its forward end and its rearward end) will depend upon the size of the terminal, the relative thickness of the stock metal, and the precise shape or configuration of the termi nal. Where only one carrier strip is provided, it is desirable to have the terminals connected to this carrier strip at their rearward ends; that is at the ends which are adapted to be crimped onto wires, for the reason that when the terminal is criruped between a pair of crimping dies it should be precisely positioned between the dies. In automatic and semi-automatic crimping machines having means for feeding the strip to position the leading terminal between the dies, more accurate positioning of the rearward end of the leading terminal between the dies can be achieved if this rearward end is rigidly connected to the carrier strip since the carrier strip will hold the rearward end in alignment with the dies Whereas the frontal end might be slightly out of alignment if the leading terminal does not extend precisely normally from the carrier strip.

The feeding and positioning of ladder strip terminals in automatic and semi-automatic crimping machines presents several problems which are not present where conventional end-to-end strip terminals are being crimped onto wires. One problem is that the leading terminal of the strip must be separated from the carrier strip during each crimping stroke of the machine and if the rearward or wire barrel end of the leading terminal is connected to the carrier strip, it is necessary to devise a severing device which will be effective to bring about the severing operation without interfering with the crimping operation. Furthermore, it has been found that if the terminal is separated from the carrier strip by a shearing operation, a burr is produced which extends beyond the surface of the terminal. This burr constitutes an unwanted metallic projection on the terminal which can lead to arcing when the terminal is put to use. Additionally, these burrs are capable of cutting the hands of the person holding the terminals and are undesirable for that reason. A further objection to such burrs is that when a terminal is inserted into a cavity in an insulating housing, the burr will sometimes engage the wall of the cavity and cause misalignment of the terminal.

An additional problem which arises when ladder strip terminals are being crimped in an automatic crimping machine onto wires is that some disposition must be made of the scrap carrier strip after the terminals have been removed therefrom. It can be appreciated that if the carrier strip is 'not controlled and disposed of after the terminals have been removed, it would be fed from the crimping machine as a continuous narrow strip of scrap metal. In the past it has therefore been common to provide a means on a crimping apparatus which cuts the "ice ladder strip into short lengths after the terminals have been removed therefrom.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved feeding and crimping apparatus for electrical terminals and an improved method of feeding and crimping terminals. A further object is to provide a ladder strip crimping apparatus having improved means for separating the leading terminal of the strip from the carrier strip at the time of crimping. A further object is to provide an applicator for ladder strip terminals having improved means for fragmentizing the carrier strip at the time of crimping. A still further object is to provide an applicator for terminals in ladder strip form having improved means for both fragmentizing the carrier strip and severing the leading terminal from the carrier strip, the fragmentizing and terminal severing means being arranged in a manner such that they do not interefere with the placement of the wire in the terminal so that improved accessibility is thereby obtained.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved in a preferred embodiment comprising: a terminal crimping applicator which is adapted to be used with a conventional bench press and which includes a reciprocable ram having crimping dies thereon cooperable with a fixed crimping anvil to crimp the wire barrel end of a terminal onto a wire. The crimping applicator is similar in many respects to the applicator shown in application Serial Number 142,270, filed October 2, 1961, for Connector Feeding Device by Gilbert C. Sitz, et al., and now Patent No. 3,184,950, issued on May 26, 1965, and includes feeding means for feeding the ladder strip along a predetermined path to position the leading terminal of the strip at a location between the crimping die and anvil At a location upstream, relative to the feed path of the strip, from the crimping die and anvil, the terminal strip is weakened in one plane extending transversely through the carrier strip and in another plane extending parallel to the carrier strip and between the carrier strip and the terminals which extend therefrom. This weakening of the strip has the effect of rendering it susceptible to fracturing in the weakened planes so that it can be fractured at the time of crimping under the influence of relatively low stresses. At the time of crimping the leading terminal of the strip onto the end of a wire, the carrier strip is vsubjected to selective bending forces imposed normally of its own plane in a manner such that a clean fracture is obtained along the planes of weakness. By virtue of the weakening operation, this final separating operation can be carried out without the imposition of unduly high stresses and a fracture devoid of burrs is obtained. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the weakening step is carried out by partially shearing the strip in the planes in which severing is effected at the time of crimping although other methods of weakening the strip can be employed.

For a better understanding of the invention reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a frontal view, with parts broken away, of a preferred form of applicator incorporating the principles of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view with parts broken away .of the preferred embodiment as viewed from the rearward side thereof.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of FIGURE 6 showing the partial shearing mechamsm.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the partial shearing mechanism.

FIGURE 5 is a view taken along the lines 5-5 of FIG- URE 3.

FIGURE 6 is a view taken along the lines 6--6 of FIGURE 5 and illustrating the manner in which the partial shearing of the ladder strip and the terminal is carried out.

FIGURES 7-13 are series of fragmentary and sectional views illustrating the final severing of the leading terminal of the strip from the carrier strip and the simultaneous fragmentation of the carrier strip into short lengths, FIGURES 7, 8, 10, and 12 being perspective views showing the various steps of the severing operation and FIGURES 9, 11, and 13 being side views illustrating the action of the severing tooling on the carrier strip.

FIGURE 14 is a sectional view taken transversely of the path of feed of the terminal strip and across the feed platform and showing the manner in which the terminal strip is guided towards the crimping zone.

FIGURE 15 is a frontal view showing the applicator ram and the spring loaded depressor which is integral with the ram and which actuates the partial shearing mechanism.

FIGURE 16 is a view taken along the lines 1616 of FIGURE 15.

Referring first to FIGURE 6, the particular form of ladder strip 2, which the disclosed embodiment of the invention is adapted to apply to wire ends, comprises a plurality of terminals 4 in spaced apart side-by-side relationship, each terminal being integral at its rearward or wire crimping end with a continuous carrier strip 6. The individual terminals each have a U-shaped ferrule forming portion 8 which is adapted to be crimped onto the insulation of a wire and a U-shaped ferrule forming portion 10, intermediate the ends of the terminal, which is adapted to be crimped onto the metallic core of the wire. The forward end 12 of the terminal comprises a contact portion having a reversely bent tongue which is adapted to be engaged with the tongue of an. identical terminal. A pair of relatively low upstanding flanges 13 are provided on the rearward end of the terminal adjacent to the carrier strip 6, these flanges serving the purpose of stabilizing the individual terminals when they are inserted into an insulating housing. Additionally, a pair of strengthening flanges 11 extend upwardly on each side of the web of the terminal between the wire crimping portion and the contact portion 12.

At the time of crimping the leading terminal of the strip onto a wire, this leading terminal must be separated from the carrier strip and, in accordance with the instant invention, the portion 14 of the carrier strip which is adjacent to the leading terminal is severed from the strip. As shown in FIGURES 7-13, the carrier strip will have been partially sheared, as shown at 16, at a point upstream from the leading terminal and an addi tional partial shear 18 will have been efiected at the rearward end of the leading terminal between the carrier strip and the terminal. The partial shear 16 is formed by merely displacing the portion 14 of the carrier strip relatively downwardly with respect to the immediately adjacent portion of the carrier strip. The carrier strip will have been partially sheared at 18 in a plane extending parallel to, and normally of, the carrier strip and between the carrier strip and the leading terminal. The partial shear 18 is effected by a die set, described in detail below, which displaces carrier strip portion 14 downwardly with respect to the adjacent terminal and, at the same time produces an indentation on the underside of the strip. This indentation has a relatively straight side 22 on the left as viewed in FIGURE 9 and a tapered side 24 on the right which slopes towards the external surface of the terminal. Thus, at the time of crimping, the leading terminal is connected to the portion 14 of carrier strip 6 only by a relatively thin neck 26. The partial shearing operation which is carried out upstream from the crimping station to the apparatus results in a high degree of work hardening of the metal of the neck 26 and along the plane of the shear 16 so that in these areas the metal is extremely hard and is subject to fracture without substantial elongation or plastic flow.

The leading terminal in FIGURE 7 is supported on an anvil 28 and the carrier strip 16 is supported on a block 140, the face 27 of which lies slightly behind the plane of the pre-shear 16 of the carrier strip. Separation of the leading terminal from the carrier strip portion 14 and fragmentation of the carrier strip is effected by means of a break-off tool 29 (FIGURE 15) having two depending legs 30 which straddle the axis of the leading terminal. The underside of each leg slopes upwardly and towards the rearward side of the tool, as shown at 32, and has a fiat surface 34 on its rearward side adjacent the rearward face of the leg. As the break-01f tool 29 is moved downwardly from the position of FIGURE 9, the forward edges 36 of the legs 30 first contact the carrier strip portion 14 on the lefthand side as shown in FIG- URE 8. Upon further downward movement of the break-off tool, the carrier strip portion 14 is bent downwardly as a unit with the neck portion 26 serving as a pivotal'axis. Such downward bending of the carrier strip portion 14 initially causes a progressive fracture of the carrier strip along the plane of the pre-shear or partial shear 16 as shown in FIGURES 8 and 10, the fracture progressing from left to right in these views as the severing tool moves downwardly. This bending of the carrier strip portion 14 further results in the imposition of high stresses in the neck portion 26 which, as noted above, is in a highly cold worked condition as a result of the preshearing operation. After the carrier strip portion 14 has been bent downwardly past the position of FIGURE 11, the neck portion 26 fractures and, as shown in FIGURE 12, the severed section of carrier strip 14 falls downwardly and away from the crimping zone.

Turning now to FIGURES 1 and 2, the disclosed embodiment of the invention which incorporates the partial shearing and severing tooling described above comprises a two-part housing 42, 44, the housing section 42 being mounted on a base plate 40 which is adapted to be secured to the platen of a press. The housing section 44 has an extension 46 projecting therefrom in which a reciprocable feed slide is contained and which is described briefly below.

An applicator ram 48 (FIGURE 15 is slidably contained in the housing section 42 and has a knob 50 on its upper end which is adapted to be received within a slot in a press ram. It should be mentioned at this point that the construction of the disclosed applicator, insofar as the housing, the ram, and the strip feed mechainsm are concerned is substantially similar to that shown in the above-mentioned application Serial Number 142,- 270. Accordingly, only a brief description of this previously disclosed structure will be presented below, the description presented being limited to the amount necessary for an understanding of the partial shearing and the severing mechanisms of the instant invention.

The break-off tool 29 is mounted on the lower end of the ram 48 by means of a fastener 53. A crimping die 54, for crimping the ferrule forming portion 8 of the leading terminal onto the insulation of the wire, and a crimping die 52, for crimping the ferrule forming portion 10 onto the conducting core of the wire, are also mounted on the ram by means of the fastener 53 and behind the break-01f tool. As disclosed fully in application Serial Number 142,270 it is desirable to be able to adjust the shut height of the crimping dies 52, 54 in order to accommodate wires of varying sizes in a single applicator. Such adjustment of the shut height of these crimping dies is achieved by means of a pair of dials 58, 60 on the upper side of the ram which dials have bosses of varying heights for transmitting the thrust of the press ram to the dies. The dial 60 transmits thrust from the press ram through the dial 58 to the applicator ram 48 and the crimping die 52. Thrust is transmitted from the press ram to the insulation barrel crimping die 54 by means of the dial 58 which extends beyond the sides of the applicator ram 48 and which has bosses of varying heights on its underside for selective engagement with a slide member 49. This slide member is contained between a pair of ribs 51 which are integral with the ram 48 and is secured to the ram by a screw 55 which extends through an oversized slot in the slide member. The upper end of the break-off tool 29 is held in a fixed position against the lower ends of the ribs 51 by. the screw 53. On its rearward side, the break-off tool is provided with projections 57 which extend into an oversized slot 59 in the crimping die 54 thereby to permit limited vertical movement of this crimping die with respect to the ram when the dial 58 is turned. The overall effect of this arrangement of mounting the crimping die and the break-off tool on the ram is that the break-off tool 29 and the crimping die 52 are fixed with respect to the applicator ram 48 while the crimping die 54 is movable within narrow limits with respect to the ram. A more complete description of the shut height adjustment feature for the dies 52, 54 is set forth in the above-identified application Serial Number 142,270.

The terminal strip is fed over a plate 62 which extends rightwardly, as viewed in FIGURE 2, within the housing extension 46, the feeding of the strip being effected by a reciprocable slide 64 which is slidably mounted on the plate 62 and which has a finger on its underside (not shown) which extends upwardly to a slot in the plate 62 to engage the strip. A yoke 66 integral with the slide 64 extends transversely across the upper surface of the plate 62. A pair of guide bars 68 extend through openings in the yoke 66 and rearwardly througha flange 70 onthe end of the plate 62. Springs 72 are interposed between the yoke 66 in the flange 70 normally to bias the feed slide leftwardly as viewed in FIGURE 2. Rightward movement of the feed slide is effected by means of a cam 80 on a housing 82 (described below) which is integral with the applicator ram 48. Upon downward movement of the applicator ram the cam 80 actuates a feed linkage mechanism contained between a pair of plates 78 mounted in the housing section 44. At its lower end this mechanism has a pivotal connection 76 with a rod 74, the end of this rod being secured to the yoke 66. As explained in the above-mentioned application, upon downward movement 'of the ram 48 the rod 74 is moved rightwardly in FIGURE 2 thereby to move the slide rightwardly against the biasing force of the spring 72. Upon upward movement of the ram the springs urge the slide leftwardly to feed the leading terminal of the strip to a position between the crimping dies and the anvil.

Advantageously, a strip guide bar 84 (FIGURE 14) is provided above the surface of the plate 62 and extends parallel to the strip of terminals. The lower edge of this guide bar is received between the U-shaped portion of each terminal and the flanges 11. This guide bar is supported by means of a block 88 secured to an upstanding flange 89 on the side of the plate 62 at one end and at its opposite end is secured to a block 86 on the flange 70. A drag rail 90 extends along the feed path and beside the carrier strip 6. This drag rail is biased by means of springs 91 against the outside edge of the carrier strip .and is retained in position by a pin-slot connector as shown, This drag rail biases the strip rightwardly in FIGURE 14 so that the forward edges of the ears of ferrule-forming portion 10 are urged against the side of the guide rail 84 thereby to position the strip properly with respect to the shearing dies and the crimping dies.

Turning now to FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, the tooling for effecting the pre-shearing operation is contained in a housing block 92 which is secured to an L-shaped block 94 on the upper surface of the base plate 40. Block 94 is adjustably clamped by means of screws 96 to a support plate 98 which is, in turn, secured to the base plate 40. For purposes of adjustment, an adjusting screw 100 is threaded into the rearward side of the plate 94 and has an integral collar 101 contained in a slot in a support block 102 which is also fastened to the plate 98. Rotation of the collar 101 thus has the effect of moving the tooling housing 92 towards or away from the front side of the applicator and, as Will be apparent from the description which follows, changing the position of the partial shear imparted to the terminal.

The partial shear tooling block 92 has a vertically extending channel 104 within the upper part of which an upper partial shearing die 106 is slidably mounted, a cover plate 108 being secured to the rearward side of the block 92 by means of fasteners to retain the shearing die. An anvil 110 is adjustably secured in the channel 104 below a horizontally extending gap through which the ladder strip is fed. Anvil 110 comprises a rectangular block having an upper surface 112 which is below the surface 114 over which the strip is fed. A rib 116 extends along the upper surface of the anvil 110 parallel to the direction of strip fed, this rib having a cross section (FIGURE 3), which will produce the indentation on the terminal shown at 22 and 24 in FIGURE 9.

The lower side of the shearing die 106 is bevelled on its lefthand side, as viewed in FIGURE 5, to provide a clearance for the strip and on its righthand side has a projection 120 which extends parallel to and which cooperates with the edge 121 of the surface 114 to form the p-re-shear 16 of the carrier strip. It will also be noted from FIGURE 3 that the underside of the shearing die 106 slopes towards the front of the apparatus as shown at 118, that is the lower side slopes upwardly from the surface 112 of the anvil. Upon downward movement of the shearing die 106 relative to the anvil 110, the terminal portion 26 will be pushed against the rib 116 to form the partial shear in the plane extending between the rearward end of the terminal and the carrier strip. Substantially simultaneously, the foot or projection 120 will move the carrier strip downwardly relatively past the edge 121 to form the carrier strip partial shear 16. The rearward side 117 of the shearing die 106 is coplanar with or extends very slightly rightwardly (as viewed in FIGURE 3) of the straight side of the rib 116 on the anvil so that downward movement of the shearing tool produces the shear face 18 as well as the indentation 20 on the underside of the strip.

It will be appreciated that the amount ofpartial shearing imparted to the ladder strip is dimensionally critical since the amount of partial shear must be sufficient to perm-it the severing operations illustrated in FIGURES 7-12 of the carrier and the terminal but at the same time the amount of partial shear must not be so great as to render the sheared zones subject to fracture prior to the intentional fracturing which takes place at the crimping station. It is therefore desirable to provide a precise adjustment for the position of the anvil 110 so that the position of its support surface 112 can be adjusted with respect to the surface 114 of the housing 92. In the embodiment disclosed the precise adjustment of the anvil is achieved by means of a polygonal spacer block 122 which supports the anvil 110 on the base plate 40. The several sides of this spacer are at different distances from its center so that rotation of the spacer block 122 results in raising or lowering of the anvil block 110. The anvil block is otherwise held in position by means of a screw 124 which extends through an oversized opening in the frontal wall of the housing 92. Access to the spacer block 122 is provided by means of an opening extending through this frontal wall and a kerf is provided in the spacer block so that it can be rotated with a screw driver.

The die 106 extends upwardly to the upper end of the housing 92 and has a bearing plate 126 secured to its upper end by means of a screw as shown. Springs 128 interposed between the underside of the bearing plate 126 and the upper surface of the housing 92 normally bias the bearing plate and the shearing die 106 upwardly and out of engagement with the strip.

The pre-shear die is moved downwardly by means of a plunger 132 (FIGURE which has an enlarged upper end 133 contained within the previously mentioned housing 82. A cover plate 130 on the lower end of the housing 82 overlaps the shoulders 131 of the plunger to retain it within the housing.

A helical spring 136 extends into an axial bore in the plunger 132 and bears at its upper end against the top wall of the housing 82. A plurality of dish-shaped spring washers (Belleville washers) are contained in the housing and surround the spring 136 with the concave sides of juxtaposed washers facing each other. This stack of spring washers rests upon the upper surface of the plunger 132 and does not extend to the top wall of the housing 82 so that the plunger can be moved relatively upwardly from the position of FIGURE 15 with respect to the housing. Such relative upward movement of the plunger is initially opposed by the spring 136 until the uppermost washer of the stack comes into engagement with the top wall of the housing. Thereafter, further relative upward movement of the plunger is opposed by the stack of washers which functions as an extremely stiff spring permitting further movement of the plunger only under the influence of a relatively high force.

During each stroke of the applicator ram 48 the terminal which is positioned adjacent to the partial shearing tooling and the portion of the ladder strip which lies beneath the shearing die is subjected to the pre-shearing operation. Upon downward movement of the ram, the compression spring 136 is first compressed until the shearing tool 106 is brought into engagement with the carrier strip. Upon further downward movement of the ram the Belleville washers are compressed and the lower end of the shearing tool is forced against the carrier strip whereby the portion of the strip beneath the tool is displaced downwardly relative to the upstream portion to produce the shear 16 and is displaced downwardly relative to the terminal to produce the shear 18. At the same time the indentation 20 is formed in the underside of the strip by the rib 116. Downward movement of the shearing tool 106 ceases when the plate 126 moves against the upper surface of the shearing tool housing 92. The relative depth of the indentation and the extent of shearing can be controlled by means of the polygonal block 122 as described above. If the limit of downward movement of the shearing tool 106 is reached prior to the limit of downward movement of the applicator ram, the Belleville disk washers will be compressed during the final portion of the downward stroke of the ram. Upon arrival of each terminal at the crimping station, severing of the carrier strip takes place as previously described along both of the preshear planes 16 and 18.

In use, the parts will normally be in the positions of FIGURE 1. The operator positions the end of a wire in the ferrule-forming portions 8, 10 of the terminal and actuates the press, in which the applicator is mounted, to drive the press ram and the applicator ram 48 through a single cycle. Actuation of the press ram may be accomplished by means of a foot switch which is operative to engage a single revolution clutch on the drive shaft of the press. As the applicator ram moves downwardly, the ferrule-forming portions 8, 10 of the leading terminal are first partly crimped around the wire end. Thereafter, and upon further downward movement of the ram 48, the break-off tool 29, engages the carrier strip section 14 while the crimping operation is completed. The carrier strip is severed from the leading terminal and fragmentized as described above and as illustrated in FIGURES 713. Advantageously, the leading terminal is gripped between the crimping dies and the crimping anvil prior to engagement of the break-off tool with the carrier strip in order that the leading terminal will be held in a fixed position while the carrier strip is being bent and severed. The par- .tial shearing operations are performed on an upstream section of the strip by the shearing mechanism while the leading terminal is being crimped onto a wire.

In the foregoing description the phrase partial shearing is employed to identify the operations performed on the carrier strip at 16 and between the carrier strip and the terminals at 18 and 20. The operation performed on the carrier strip at 16 is a shearing operation in that, if carried further, it would result in a complete severing of the carrier. The operation performed at 18 and 20 on the strip and between the carrier strip and the terminals involves an indenting operation on the underside of the strip as well as a partial shearing operation. The phrase partial shearing is therefore employed to denote these operations for purposes of convenience although the operations performed at 18 and 20 go somewhat beyond a simple shearing operation.

The result achieved by the practice of the invention depends upon the weakening of the strip at 16 and at 18, 20 by the shearing methods disclosed above. However, it will be apparent that such weakening of the strip could be achieved by other means; for example, a punch could be provided upstream from the crimping station for punching out a portion of the carrier strip at 16 and at 18 so that the leading terminal in the crimping zone could be severed from the carrier and the carrier severed into fragments by bending of the carrier strip as illustrated in FIGURES 8-12. Severing in this instance would take place because of the weakening effect of the removal by punching of portions of the strip. Alternatively, a groove or channel can be milled or otherwise cut into the carrier strip between the terminals and the strip itself and in the strip at 16.

A salient advantage of the invention is that actual fracturing of the neck 26 takes place in a zone which lies below the upper surface 144 of the web of the terminal (FIGURE 13) and above the lower surface 146 of the web of the terminal. By reason of the fact that the neck portion 26 is severely work hardened during the partial shearing operation, little or no burr is produced during the fracturing operation and the roughened surface which results when fracturing takes place lies within the planes defining the surfaces 144 and 146. In other words, the burr, if any, and the roughened surface do not extend to the surfaces of the terminal so that the danger of arcing or personnel injury is eliminated.

An additional advantage of the disclosed embodiment is that the fragmentizing of the strip and the severing operation are carried out without the necessity of supporting the underside of the portion 114 of the carrier strip. As a practical matter this feature of the disclosed embodiment results in improved accessibility and greater operator convenience since the area in which the operator is required to handle the wire is not cluttered with a conventional pair of shearing blocks.

While the disclosed embodiment of the invention achieves both a convenient means of separating the leading terminal from the strip and the fragmentation of the carrier strip, the operation of fragmentizing the carrier strip can be dispensed with if desired and if it is preferred to dispose of the scrap carrier strip in some manner other than by fragmentation.

Changes in construction will occur to those skilled in the art and various apparently different modifications and embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only. The actual scope of the invention is intended to be defined in the following claims 'when viewed in their proper perspective against the prior art.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for crimping terminals onto wires, said terminals being in side-by-side strip form and being secured to a carrier strip at one end, said apparatus comprising: a guide track for guiding said terminal strip towards a crimping zone, a crimping anvil in said crimping zone for supporting the leading terminal of said stn'p while leaving said carrier strip unsupported, a crimping die in said zone movable relatively towards and away from said crimping anvil, strip weakening means on said guide track upstream from crimping zone for weakening said strip in a plane extending beside said carrier strip and between said carrier strip and the individual terminal integral therewith thereby to render said individual terminals severable from said carrier strip upon bending of said carrier strip relative to said terminals, and severing means in said crimping zone for bending said unsupported carrier strip transversely of the plane of said feed track thereby to sever said leading terminal from said carrier strip during crimping of said leading terminal onto a wire.

' 2. Apparatus for crimping terminals into wires, said terminals being in side-by-side strip form and being secured to a carrier strip at one end, said apparatus com prising, a guide track for guiding a section of terminal strip towards a crimping zone, a crimping anvil in said crimping zone for supporting the leading terminal of said strip while leaving said carrier strip unsupported, a crimping die in said zone movable relatively towards and away from said crimping anvil, partial shearing means on said guide track for partially shearing said strip in a plane extending substantially parallel to said carrier strip and between said carrier strip and the individual terminals on said strip, said plane extending transversely of the plane of said carrier strip, and severing means movable with said crimping die for engaging the portion of said ladder strip in said crimping zone concomitantly with engagement of the leading terminal of said strip by said crimping die and for bending said portion of said ladder strip relative to said leading terminal thereby to sever said leading terminal from said carrier strip in said plane.

3. Apparatus for crimping terminals onto the ends of wires said terminals being disposed in side-by-side strip form and being secured at their wire crimping ends to a carrier strip, said apparatus comprising feeding and supporting means for feeding said strip along a predetermined path towards a crimping Zone, a crimping anvil in said crimping zone having a supporting surface for supporting the leading terminal of said strip while leaving said carrier strip unsupported, a crimping die in said zone movable relatively towards and away from said crimping anvil, partial shearing means on said feed path upstream, relative to the direction of strip feed, from said crimping zone for partially shearing said strip in a plane extending parallel to said ladder strip and between said ladder strip and the individual terminals in said strip, and severing means movable with said crimping die for engaging said carrier strip in said crimping zone concomitantly with engagement of said crimping die with said leading terminal whereby, said portion of said carrier strip in said crimping zone is bent and severed in said plane and said leading terminal is thereby disengaged from said strip while said lea-ding terminal is being crimped onto a wire.

4. Apparatus for crimping terminals onto wires, said terminals being in side-by-side strip form and being secured to a carrier strip at their ends which are adapted to be crimped onto wires, said apparatus comprising: a guide track for guiding said terminal strip towards a crimping zone, a crimping anvil in said crimping zone for supporting the leading terminal in said strip while leaving said carrier strip unsupported, a crimping die in said crimping zone movable relatively towards and away from said anvil, a first strip weakening means on said guide track upstream from said crimping zone for weakening said strip in a first plane extending beside said carrier strip and between said carrier strip and the individual terminals integral therewith, and a second strip weakenng means for weakening said strip in a plane extending transversely across said carrier strip, said weakening means serving to render said strip subject to fracture in said planes upon bending said strip relative to an adjacent terminal, and bending means movable with said die for engagement with said carrier strip after the commencement of crimping for bending said carrier strip relative to the terminal being crimped thereby to sever said strip in said planes.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said weakening means comprises means for partially shearing said strip in said planes.

6. An applicator for crimping terminals onto wires, said terminals being in side-by-side strip form and being secured to a carrier strip at their ends which are adapted to be crimped onto wires, said apparatus comprising: a guide track, means for intermittently feeding a strip of said terminals along said guide track, a reciprocable ram having crimping die means thereon, a crimping anvil cooperative with said crimping die to crimp the leading terminal of said strip onto a wire, strip weakening means on said ram for engaging said strip at a location upstream from said crimping die and weakening said strip in a plane extending beside said carrier strip and between said carrier strip and the individual terminals integral therewith thereby to render said terminals severable from said carrier strip upon bending of said carrier strip relative to said terminals, and means on said ram for applying a bending force to said carrier strip during crimping of said leading terminal thereby to sever said leading terminal from said carrier strip.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said strip weakening means comprises means for partially shearing said strip.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 including a second strip weakening means for weakening said carrier strip in a plane extending transversely of its length whereby, upon bending, said carrier strip is fragmentized.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8 wherein said first and second weakening means comprise means for partially shearing said strip in said planes.

10. The method of crimping terminals onto wires, said terminals being in side-by-side strip form and being secured to a carrier strip at one end, said method comprising the steps of: intermittently feeding a strip of said terminals towards a crimping zone, weakening said strip in a first plane extending parallel to said carrier strip and between said carrier strip and said terminals, crimping the leading terminal of said strip onto a wire and concomitantly applying a normal force to the portion of said carrier strip which is adjacent to said leading terminal thereby to bend said adjacent portion relative to said leading terminal and to fracture said strip in said weakened first plane.

11. A method as set forth in claim 10 including the step of weakening said strip in a second plane adjacent to, and upstream from, said first plane and extending transversely across said carrier strip whereby said carrier strip is firactured in said second plane under the influence of said normal force.

112. A method as set forth in claim 11 wherein said strip is weakened in said planes by partially shearing said strip.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,002,547 10/1961 Cootes 72-337 3,070,144 12/1962 Evans 72-337 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner. R. D. GREFE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR CRIMPING TERMINALS ONTO WIRES, SAID TERMINALS BEING IN SIDE-BY-SIDE STRIP FORM AND BEING SECURED TO A CARRIER STRIP AT ONE END, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING: A GUIDE TRACK FOR GUIDING SAID TERMINAL STRIP TOWARDS A CRIMPING ZONE, A CRIMPING ANVIL IN SAID CRIMPING ZONE FOR SUPPORTING THE LEADING TERMINAL OF SAID STRIP WHILE LEAVING SAID CARRIER STRIP UNSUPPORTED, A CRIMPING DIE IN SAID ZONE MOVABLE RELATIVELY TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM SAID CRIMPING ANVIL, STRIP WEAKENING MEANS ON SAID GUIDE TRACK UPSTREAM FROM CRIMPING ZONE FOR WEAKENING SAID STRIP IN A PLANE EXTENDING BESIDE SAID CARRIER STRIP AND BETWEEN SAID CARRIER STRIP AND THE INDIVIDUAL TERMINAL INTEGRAL THEREWITH THEREBY TO RENDER SAID INDIVIDUAL TERMINALS SEVERABLE FROM SAID CARRIER STRIP UPON BENDING OF SAID CARRIER STRIP RELATIVE TO SAID TERMINALS, AND SEVERING MEANS IN SAID CRIMPING ZONE FOR BENDING SAID UNSUPPORTED CARRIER STRIP TRANSVERSELY OF THE PLANE OF SAID FEED 